Hydraulic clutch



Nov.L 3, 1931. G. E. ZAHN 1,830,156

' HYDRAULIC CLUTCH Filed Feb. l, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet l mm. i HIM mm.

GEORGE E.ZAH/v .mmm

ATTORNEY Nov. 3, 1931. G, E; ZAHN 1,830,156

HYDRAULI C CLUTCH Filed Feb. 1. 1930v 4 sheets-sheet g 1 wrvmw. L n' eZ, 2.5' ArToRNEv Nov. 3, 1931. G. E. ZAHN 1,830,156

HYDRAULIC CLUTCH Filed Feb. 1, 1930' 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 [Wy/ "'o FCI-gafNV. 3, 1931. G, E ZAHN 1,830,156

HYDRAULIC CLUTCH Filed Feb. 1,` 195o- 4 sheets-sheet 4 GEORGE Z/rf/A/lINVENTOR W l ATTORNEYS Patented Nov, 3, 1931 UNITED ,s'rxrasl PATE-NrOFFICE GEORGE E. ZAHN, F FREEDOM, PENNSYLVANIA .iaYnmULIc CLUTCH`Application l'ed February 1, 1930. Serial 4llo. 425,235.

An object of the inventionis to provide an- 0 automatic valve adjustmentfor selecting the most eficient pullin ratio between the motor and loadand a hy raulic ratchet which a1- lows free movements of a shaft (withina casino inone direction),- but engages the casing "w ien the rotationof the shaft is reversed or the casingv is rotated.

This invention' also conslsts in certain other features of construction'and in the combina-' tion and arrangement'of the several parts, .0 to behereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawingsand specifically pointed out in the appended claims.-

In'describing the invention in detail, refings wherein like charactersdenote like or corresponding parts throughout the several view'syand inwhich:-

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the invention. 5 Figure 2is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a ure 1. Figure 4 is a section Online 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevation partly in section showing theaccelerator pedal-in association` with the control for the -pump valve.

Figure 6 isa longitudinal sectional view through the drive casin and thesliding valve and showing the cy ders and'pistons operated by thepressure from the pump for holding the. valve in closed position.

'In these drawings, the numeral 1 indicates section on line 3-"3 ofFig-Yajcasing containing oil and having a bearing 2 at each end, and3indicates a drive or motor driven shaft extending linto the 'casingthrough one bearing and 4 indicates the driven auf: extending inatheming through erence will be had to the accompanying draw# the -otherbearing. A casing 5, formed of two sections and having its endsclosed,.is rotatably arran ed on the shaft 3 by having its hubs 6 rotataly engaging the shaft. One hub is provided with aflange? which carriesthe stub shafts 8 on which the pinions 9 aremounted, these pinionsengaging a gear 10 carried by the shaft 3 and -a ring gear 11',

carried by a ange 12 on the shaft 4. The

inner end of 'the' shaft 4 has a socket which forms a bearing for :thereduced end of the ions and gears form a planetary gear train whosemovements are controlled by the casing 5 and the shaft 3. The casing 5has anv eccentric bore and a spacing ring 14 is fas# tened between thetwo parts of the casing bers. This ring Ais also Jformed in two partsand its bore is concentric with the axis of the shaft'3 around which theWhole transmission revolves.

A driving member to the shaft 3 so that the member 15 will rotate withthe shaft 3.' The other end of the member 15 is closed by a plate 16 andis fastened to the shaft 3 and forms a rest for the open end of themember 15..l This member .15 is .eccentrically arranged with respect tothe bore of the casing 5 and has its ends abutshaft 3, as shown at 13 inFigure 1. T he pin-.

anddivide's the lbore into two parts or cham- I 15 is arran ed withinthe casing 5 and has one end close and fixed '7 ,ting the' ends'of thecasing 5. The member 15 carries two sets of oscillating wings 17 and18-,` the wingsl7 being` arranged in that part of .thebore of casing 5infront ofthe partition 14 and theset 18 being in that part-I of thebore in rear ofthe partition 14. One

set of wings is reversely arranged to the-- other set, as shown inFimember '15 is provided with theports' 19, one' res 2 and 3. The r undereach wing 17 but there are no ports l under the wings 18.

A cylindricalvalve 20 is slidably arranged inthe member 15 .and acts tocontrol the ports 19. This'valve .is'formed with a numberof cylinders21, each containing a piston 22, the forward end of which abuts or isconnected with the forward Aend 'of the member 15,

so that the pistons are stationary. while the cylinders, of course, movewith the valve.

A passage 23 connects the rear end of each cylinder with a port 19 andthe valve is held against rotary movement in the member 15 by means ofakey 24 engaging keyways in the valve and in said member 15. Thus thevalve must rotate with the member 15 and the outer ends of the passages23 in valve 20 always remain` in proper relation to the ports 19.

Cylinders 25 are carried by the member or plate 16 and the pistons 26 ofsaid cylinders have their rods 27 bear against the front end of thevalve so that the pistons will move with the valve. A passage 28connects the rearend of each cylinder 25 with a groove 29 in the. innercircumference of the member 16 and a passage 30 in shaft 3 connects thegroove 29 with a groove 31 in a ring 32 through which the shaft 3passes, this ring being connected to one of the bearing posts 33 in thecasing 1, these bearing posts supporting the bearings 34 for the hubs 6of the casing 5. with a pump 3'6 in the casing 1 and this pipe containsa valve 37 and a pressure regulator 38. The pump shaft 39 is driven fromlche .shaft 3 through the worm gearing 40 so that the .volume of thepump will vary with the speed of the motor. A spring 41 holds the valvein either its open or closed position and a rod 42 is connected with thearm of the valve and the other end of the rod is connected to a rockerarm 43. This rocker arm is moved by pressure on the gas feed pedal o raccelerator A, and the arm has an eccentric mounting 44 actuated by amovement of the reverse .lever B- so as to disengage the rocker arm fromthe accelerator or pedal when the reverse lever is actuated, whichallows the valve 37 to be in a position with the pressure shut 0E fromthe pump while the motor speed is accelerated.

A brake 45 is provided for the casing 5, theV two sections of which aresupported by the rod 46, and said brake is operated by a lever 47. Thecasing 5, in its thick port1ons, 1s formed with the holes 48 to balancethe unlt.

Assuming that the motor. is started and is running. at idling speed,then the shaft 3, member 15. valve 20, ring 16 and cyhnders 21 and 25all revolve together. The tendency of the casing 5.is to stand still sothatthe fluid is acted on by the wings 17 as they move in toward themember 15 so that pressure 1s built upv under the inwardly moving Wingsand this pressure is transmitted through the passages 23 into the rearends of the cylinders 21, thus moving the valve 20 rearwardly so thatthe ports 19 are opened, allowing the compressed fluid to escape ac'rossthe unit into that part of the chamber formed by the eccentric bore ofthe casing 5, Vwhere the Wings are free to swing away Afrom the member15. The opening movement of the valve 20 also moves' the pistons 26 intothe cylin- A pipe 35 connects the groove 31V ders 25, because in thisidling position, the

valve 37 is closedand there is no pressure in' the cylinders 25. Thusthe Wings 17 are free to oscillate and casing 5 remains stationary,unless driven by some exterior means.

In the arrangement shown in the drawings, the cylinder 5 will revolvearound its axis at the rate of one revolution to 2% revolutions of theshaft 3, due to the idlers 9 following the gear 10 within the internalgear 11. If casing 5 is caused to revolve faster than the above ratio,then the internal gear 11 must revolve in the same direction'and theratio will decrease as cylinder 5 catches up to shaft 3. When both shaftand cylinder or casing 5 are revolving at the same speed, the internalgear 11 will also revolve at the same speed, thereby constituting adirect drive from the shaft 3 to the shaft 4. This is accomplished bypressing upon the accelerator to cause the rocker arm 43 to tilt so thatthe rod 42 will open the valve 37 and thus cause the pressure from thepump to pass through the pipe 35, passage 30 and assages 28 into thecylinders 25, where the uid pressure will act against the pistons 26 andcause the rods 27 to move the valve 2O forwardly and thus. close theports 19. This closing movement of the valve will cause a back pressurein the cylinders 21 of the valve. The proper amount of pressure againstthe pistons 26 to prevent the valve 20 from closing too hard is securedby adjusting the pressure regulator 38 which operates by spring tensionand overflow. Any increased speed of the motor increases the speed ofthe pump and as the overflow through the pressure regulator is limited,the increased speed of the pump alsofincreases the pressure within thecylinders 25. It will be noted.l also that as the motor .and pump arespeeded up, the member 15 also increases its speed directly and whilethe pistons 26 are exerting greater pressure against the valve 20, thepressure Within the cylinders 21 is also increasing, due to theoscillating wings picking up the load as valve 2O closes the ports 19.It will be seen that the pressure under the wings 17 tends to force thevalve 20 open and that as the valve opens, the pressure drops, allowingslippage vof the Wings 17 within the eccentric chamber of the casing 5.This in turn allows the motor to speed up and either builds up morepressure or forces the valve 20 open to a greater extent. e In otherwords, the pressure under the wings depends on the load. The pressurewithin the cylinders 25 tending to force the valve 20 shut, is dependenton the motor speed and the adjustment of the overflow and spring tensionof pressure regulator 38. The force acting on the valve 20 to move it ineither direction, is equal to the difference in force within thecylinders 21 acting to move the valve 20 open and the force Within thecylinders 25 acting to move the valve 20 shut. Thus if the pressurewithin the cylinders 25 is regulatedat 381170 hold the' valve 20 closedlwhile the motor is running at its most eicient pulling speed Ywith amaximum load on the casing 5, the wings 17 will be held outwardlyagainst the eccentric chamber ofthe casing with a force that will causethe casing 5 to revolve with the driving member 15, but if the load onthe casing 5 lshould become greater than the motor can pull at a fastand eiicient speed, the motor will slow down, causing a drop of pressurein the cylinders 25, while the pressure in the cylinders 21 remainsmaximum. This will force the valve 20 open, allowing pressure Huid toescape across the unit and causing slippage of the wings within theecentric chamber, lightening the load on the motor and allowing it topick up speed. The -increasing speed of the motor again builds up thepressure in cylinders and consequently in-cyllnders 21 and so a balanceis struck and the valve 20 automatically opens the ports 19 to the mosteflicient operating position.

To stop the Adrivin g power of this transmission, all that is necessaryis to take the pressure oi of the accelerator. The spring under thepedal ypushes it back, tilting rocker arm 43 and moving rod 42 toclosevalve 37 and thus shutting 0E the pressure from the pumpV to thecylinders 25 and pressure in the cylinders 21 forces the valve 20 open7allowing the .motor to idle.

Attention is .called to the fact that all fori ward' driving power isobtained through the forward half of the unit. i

rIp'he hydraulic ratchet shown occupies the other halt` of the unit andit is the, same as the transmissionunit, except lthat it has no valve orports under the wings. When driven by the motor, the wings exert `nopressure against the walls so' the inner parts revolve while theoutercasing 5 stands still or revolveswith the inner part if dri-ven bysome other'means.l but if the lspeed of the outsidecasing 5 should getahead of the inner casing or member 15, then the wings 18 cannot closein, due to the duid pressure under them and both parts '5 and 15 mustrevolve together as a unit.

1 'Ijlse this device with this transmission to 4utilize the retarding'power of the motor to hold backthe speed cfg-the driven shaft 4. Greaterretarding effect can be obtained by a slight appli cation of the brakeagainst the casing 5. In Figure 5 of the drawings the accelerator pedalis shown at A, while the reverse lever is shown'V at B.

Reverse motion of the shaft 4 is obtained by pressing upon a reverselever B. The first action of this lever disengages the rockerarm 43;through eccentric mounting 44 from the accelerator pedal,"allowingthevalve 37 to remain in a position to shut off pressure from the pumpso that no pressure is exerted to close valve The next action causes thebrake 45 to "grip the casing 5,- holding it stationary. 'As the pins onwhich the idler gears 9 of the planetary are fastened to this casingthrough the flange 7 and thehubs of the casing 5,- and the gear 10 ofthe planetary is secured to theV shaft 3 which is revolving with themotor, a standard planetary reverse is obtained.

from a pump, the volume of which varies' with the speed of the motor, tomove the valve to a closed position so that the valve automaticallyselects the most etiicient pulling posit? on relative to the speed ofthe motor and the" load, and a hydraulic ratchet including an outercasing having a part of its bore eccentric to the axis on which itrevolves, an inner casing having mounted on its periphery oscillatingWings and end walls on the outer casing to prevent the escape o'f fluidfrom under the wings, so that in operation the wings fold up and theinner casing revolves independent oi the outer casing when travelinginone direction, but when caused to revolve 1n a reversedirection, the-wings are held outwardly against the eccentric bore of the outer casingby Huid pressure which has, n o means of escape, causing both innerand'outer' casing to revolve as a unit. I

It is thought from the foregoing tio'n that the advantages and novelfeatures of the invention will bereadily apparent.

. It is to be understood that changes may be made in the constructionand in the combination andA arrangement of thev several parts,

-provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. A device of the class described comprising a drive member including acasing, a driven member including a casing surrounding the irst casing,said second casing having an eccentric chamber therein and the firstcasing having ports therein placing the interior. thereof incommunication with the eccentric chamber, ypivoted wings carried bythe'iirst casing and adapted to contact the,

descripw'alls of the eccentric chamberyfiuid in the` casings, a valvemember for controlling' the ports, means whereby said valvemember 1smoved to an open position by .pressure'of luidcreated by' the inwardmovement of the Wings, means for Acausing fluid pressure to move thevalve'hmember to a closed pos1-Y tion and'means for varying the volumeof the last mentioned means by the speed ofthe drive member.

2. A device ofthe class described comprising a. drivefme'mber includinga casing, `a'

Adriven member including a casing surround-l ing theflrst casing,- saidsecond casing having an eccentric chamber therein v and the lirst casinghavin ports therein placingthe interior thereo in communication withthe. ec-

centric chamber, pivoted wings connected with the first casing landadapted to contact the walls of the eccentric chamber, fluid in thelcasings,'a valve member for controlling the ports, means whereby thevalve is moved to open position by fluid pressure created by the inwardmovement of the wings, a pump for creating fluid pressure to move thevalve to a closed position and means for' varying the volume of the pumpaccording to the speed of the motor.

3. A device of the class described comprising a drive member including acasing, a driven member includingr a casing surrounding the firstcasing, said second casing having an eccentric chamber tliei'ein and thefirst casing having ports therein placing the interior thereof incommunication with the eccentric chamber, pivoted wings connected withthe first casing and .adapted to contact the walls of the eccentricchamber, fluid in the casings, a valve member for controlling the ports,means whereby the valve is moved to open position by fluid pressurecreated by the inward movement of the wings, a pump for creating fluidpressure to move the valve to'a closed position, means for driving thepump from the drive member and a pressure regulator arranged in thedischarge of the pump.

4. A device of the class described comprising a drive shaft, a drivenshaft, a casing rotatably arranged on the drive shaft and havin aneccentric interior. a concentric casing attached to the drive shaft andlocated in the first casing and having ports therein, wings pivoted tothe second casing and contacting the walls of the first casing, with a.wing over each port, a cylindrical valve slidably arranged in the secondcasing for controllingr the ports, means whereby fluid compressed by theinwardiv moving wings will move the valve to open position and meansincluding a pump for causing fluid to move the valve to closingposition.

5. A device of the class described .comprisinfr a drive shaft, a drivenshaft. a casing rol tatably arranged on the drive shaft and having aneccentric interior, a concentric casing attached to the drive shaft andlocated in .the first casing and having ports therein,l

-rear ends with the ports, cylinders carried by the rear end of thesecond casing, pistons in said cylinders and connected with the valve. apump for forcingr fluid into the last mentioned cylinders to move thevalve to port closing position, the fluid compressed by the inwardlymoving wings entering the first mentioned cylinders to move the valve toopen position and means for operating the pump from the drive shaft andmeans for imparting" movement to the driven shaft from the first casing.

6. A device of the class described comprising a. drive member includinga casing, a driven'member including a casing surrounding the firstcasing,'said second casing having an eccentric chamber therein and thefirst casing having ports therein placing the interior thereof incommunication with the eccentric chamber, pivoted wings carried by thefirst casing and adapted to contact with the walls of the eccentricchamber, fluid in the casings, a valve member for controlling the ports,means whereby said valve member is moved to an open position by pressureof fluid created by the inward movement of the wings. means for causingfluid pressure to move the valve member to a closed position, means forvarying the volume of the last mentioned means by the speed of the drivemember and hydraulic ratchet meansbetween the first casing! and thesecond casing.

7. A device of the class described comprisine: a drive member includinga casing, a driven member including a casing surrounding the rst casing`said second casing having an eccentric chamber therein and the firstcasing having` ports therein placing the interior thereof1 incommunication with the eccentric chamber, pivoted wings carried by fluidcreated by the inward movement of the,

wings. means for causing fluid pressure to move the valve member to aclosed position, means for varying the volumevof the last .mentionedmeans by the speed of the drive member and hydraulic ratchet meansbetween the first casing and the second casing, such means comprisingwings pivoted to the first casing and adapted to engagel the walls ofthe bore of the second casing, said bore being eccentric to the firstcasing and that part of the bore in which the wings operate forming aclosed chamber containing fluid.

In testimony whcrenf T afiv mv signature.

GEORGE E. ZAHN.

